Making a pipe dream a reality

You don't know which boat you should build to suit your personal needs? Please post your questions here and our many contributors will surely have some good advice.
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tdoes
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Joined: Sat Oct 22, 2005 5:16 pm
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Making a pipe dream a reality

Post by tdoes »

I'm finally going to get going. I am a 6'2'', 220 pound novice (to both building and paddling). I want to do some relaxed paddling either solo or with the kids (young - non-paddlers). Day trips mostly. Mostly flat water on rivers and small lakes. My priorities are : stabilty, ease of control in and out of the water, (not too long), and flexibility as to number of occupats. I'm thinking of the Prospector 16 or the Freedom 17. I'd appreciate any thoughts.
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davidb54321
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Post by davidb54321 »

tdoes,

Welcome! I am almost finished with my first canoe, a Prospector. It has been a fun and rewarding experience so far.The help available on this forum is amazing. No matter what you encounter along the way, it seems someone has been there ahead of you and has a solution or at least a suggestion or two. You may build your canoe by yourself but you will never be alone.

As to which design to build, they are both good choices for the type of paddling you describe. I have no experience building the Freedom(or any other design other than the Prospector) so I can't offer any advice there. The Prospector has been a very straight forward building project. No problems that a first time builder cannot overcome with the help available here.

So.........Pick a design and get stripping.

ps If you have not purchased the book, "Canoecraft" I highly recommend it.
David Bartlett

"I don't fully understand everything I know!"
http://photobucket.com/albums/b81/davidb54321/
tdoes
Posts: 8
Joined: Sat Oct 22, 2005 5:16 pm
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Post by tdoes »

Thanks for those thoughts.
I'm pretty close to settling on the Prospector...or the Ranger. Will the rocker on these designs make them difficult for a novice to control - especially with young kids aboard. I have seen some similar designs but have no experience to discern between them.
I am mainly planning on flatwater canoeing.
Cheers
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Glen Smith
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Location: Baie-St-Paul, Quebec, Canada

Post by Glen Smith »

If you are going to have children in the boat, you might appreciate the extra length of the Prospector.
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Bryan Hansel
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Post by Bryan Hansel »

I'm so predictable on threads that mention the Freedom 17. I love mine. It's by far my favorite tandem canoe. I believe that under the design comments on this site, they still quote me waxing poetically about how great of a design it is.

My SO and I took my niece (10 yrs old) on a BWCA trip with it this last summer and it was pretty well loaded to the gills with three of us and our packs. Without gear four people are fine assuming two are children. Otherwise, I'd move up to the Freedom 17-9.

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